11:35 Aug 25, 2010 

Thanks to all of you for lively participation. For this particular text I have chosen blend, perhaps amalgamation will be more suitable in another text.
Once again, thanks.

10:14 Aug 24, 2010 

I heard of the German term 'Kofferwort' for the first time ... ;-) And when Googling for this word, I found this very interesting ppt presentation: http://epub.uni-regensburg.de/12910/1/Kreuzungen.pdf (so we have another term, Kreuzung ...).

09:37 Aug 24, 2010 

The three suggestions I see so far -- amalgamation, blend, and portmanteau word -- are all perfectly correct. In a purely linguistic setting, "blend" would be the choice; in a more literary or cultural setting, "portmanteau word" (which is what you see in discussions of Lewis Carroll, for example-- "slithy toves" and "grimble" and all that; this is where the Germans would most likely use "Kofferwort"). But perhaps for the asker's text "amalgamation" would be the most appropriate choice.

09:34 Aug 24, 2010 

Sorry about restricting the question - if I knew how to change it I would. Promise to do better next time. Thanks for your input anyway. Cynthia

07:48 Aug 24, 2010 

??? re. your examples

07:46 Aug 24, 2010 

I think the restriction to paying members can be changed by asker.

07:45 Aug 24, 2010 

I shall treasure them ;-)

07:42 Aug 24, 2010 

Blend is the word I learned as a student of English linguistics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blend
4 symbolic points to Hermann :)

07:21 Aug 24, 2010 

but maybe this might help:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/168
New words formed by fusing together parts of existing words are known as blends. They used to be called portmanteau words, but this term isn't used as much nowadays. Blends are very common in English and account for a very large number of the new words entering the language each year. Well-established blends include brunch, guesstimate, motel, fanzine, and shopaholic; among the more recent coinages are affluenza, infotainment, botnet, and labradoodle.

Blends are not strictly the same as compounds, which are made by joining whole words together, rather than parts of words. Examples include website, awayday, housemate, schoolboy, and landbanking.